Guard Intercepts 'Airmail' Packet Thought To Be Pot Problems At The Prisons

July 17, 1985|by DAVID M. ERDMAN, The Morning Call

A tightly wrapped package of suspected marijuana possibly intended for inmates landed with a plop at the feet of a guard patrolling outside the Lehigh County Prison walls.

The incident Saturday was relayed to The Morning Call yesterday by a prison employee and confirmed by Warden Tim Carver.

"How it got there or where it came from, I really don't know," said Carver. "All we know is that the guard thought he heard something hitting the pavement . . . He looked down and saw a package laying there and proceeded to pick it up."

The airborne goods could have been intended for someone inside the 40-foot prison walls because the package was discovered at about 2 p.m. - a time when recreation is conducted inside the prison walls. The package was discovered along Penn Street, which runs along the back of the prison and near the recreation yard.

"Somebody could have attempted to throw it over the top and didn't make it," said Carver. "We try to eliminate all possibilities of contraband coming in and then they come up with a new one. All we can do is try to defend against it."

One guard recently was arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs into the prison by either bringing them in at the start of his shift or by leaving them in a car outside the prison to be brought in by an accomplice later.

No one was seen by the guard in the area at the time the package dropped, according to Carver.

There were reports yesterday of two guards receiving disciplinary action, but Carver said the actions were unrelated to the suspected marijuana package.

The warden would not confirm what the violations were or what disciplines were meted out, although he said the disciplines had nothing to do with drugs in the prison or any drug investigation.

Other sources said one guard was to lose five days pay and remain on probation for the harassment of female guards.

A second guard received a written reprimand for reportedly "giving lip" to one of his superiors in another unrelated incident, according to sources.

Carver described the package as about 3 inches by an inch and a half "and wrapped in the kind of brown tape used for sealing boxes."

According to Carver, the guard who discovered the package turned it over to a supervisor, who in turn gave it to the prison identification supervisor.

Yesterday the package was turned over to the district attorney's detectives for analysis.

Said Carver, "In my estimation it looked like marijuana, but that was only my observation."